I just ran into a 3 season hennessey shelter (very reasonable). it includes the pad and under cover, no top cover. only bought because price was right. my question is i have a nest now, good for me to about 40 degrees by itself. was wondering if i use this under the nest what temp would i be able to get to. has any body tried this? i have a blue pad that i use with nest that will get me to 20 degrees using pad in hammock and nest under hammock. i would be okay with this set up but part of my dilemna is i use a packa and granite gear ozone pack with pad straped to back of pack.this makes the packa a very tight fit to walk in. my thinking was if i use the hennessey 3 season shelter it would be in a smaller pack that would fit in my pack. also i may not need the pad that they supply with the system if just the under cover under the nest would bring me to 20 degree temp range. i'm doing my thru starting march 27, 2007 and trying to figure my best set up like all others hoping to hang from geogia to maine!!

I am pretty sure that the undercover is water/air tight. May lead to condensation problems with the nest inside. Not sure it would help with the temps that way. You could use it like it was designed and use the nest under.

Agree with Arkwater - if you put the Nest inside the SuperShelter, the SS will compress the Nest and probably cause condensation. I would also use the SS as designed, then add the Nest to the outside of that. Just a guess, but I bet you could get to 20 F that way.

Strike three.... the preveous posts are right on.... putting the JRB Nest inside the HHSS will reduce effectiveness....Please do not do that.

The HHSS was designed to fit tightly to the hammock, with a 1/2 open cell foam pad for insulation....

The JRB Nest requires approx 2.5 inches to fully loft...you will reduce effective loft to 40-20 percent by placing it in this confined space.... it will be at its worst under the butt where the HHSS fits the tightest...


The reduced loft will be further exacerbated because the body moisture passing thru the Nest will be trapped by the non-breathing, non-vented HHSS silnyl bottom...colder weather further amplifies the condensation problems...Should you not be able to field dry/air this moisture out, it will accumulate... this will add weight to your pack and reduce the insulating value of the down.

Pan

thanks, for the insight. i will try the nest under outside the hhss, to prevent condesation and to see if that will get me to 20 degrees. and then see which will work better in pack, the ss or just the blue pad. i'll post results as soon as i get it set up in 20 degree temps.

thanks, for the insight. i will try the nest under the hhss to see if that will get me to 20 degrees. and then see which will work better in pack, the ss or just the blue pad. i'll post results as soon as i get it set up in 20 degree temps.

I haven't tried the HHSS, but based on what Jack said you may want to reverse that. It may help if you put the nest on the outside of the SS.

I used the hh super shelter last night. it was 40 when i set up. i was very comfortable and warm. i was wearing light nylon pants tee shirt,fleese and light balaca. smart wool socks. i expected to feel some cold on my back as i did with nest around that temp last week. i watched as temp was dropping still very compy38,35,33,32. very impressed. as the open cell pad is sooo thin in that set up. i guess the under cover helped retain the heat. at 31 degrees i started to fell some cold spots at this point i put nest under the hh under cover and pad and it warmed right up again. it was 11;30 by then fell asleep and woke up to pee it was 4:40 very warm and cozy( i was using western 20 degree bag as quilt) the temp was 25 at that time. i had no tarp on and still the temp was 7 degrees warmer in hammock that out.. inconclusion this was way more comfortable than the nest and blue pad. a lot less bulky but 4 oz heavier. the nice thing is the hh super shelter with under cover and pad can stay on hammock and will fit in snake skins #4 for fast set up and take down. only adding the nest as needed. it was a little tricky getting in with the nest and ss on you have to be carfull not to tear the hh pad , i just pushed all to side and got in and managed to have it all spring back in place. if i hadn't gotten the ss so cheap 45.00 i would of never tried this because my set up would of been to costly. this will work for me as i use the packa and now won't have the blue pad straped to back making the packa a little tight. i will start my thru in march with this set up. will send either nest or ss home as temps warm up and sent for them as the drop again. of course this can all change as i keep expermenting this winter.

Awesome - I don't like using pads, either. That would be worth the extra 4 oz to me.

Some things to consider:
- Even though you were comfortable to freezing w/ only the SS, you weren't sleeping. When your metabolism slows, the SS's effective temp will increase. Still, you're one of about three people I've heard say the SS is comfortable below about 50 F...good on ya! Did it come with just the pad, or with the extra kidney pads too?
- Be careful putting the ocf pad inside the snakeskins. I think bending the skins to pack it might tear the pad.
- During the warmer months, you can use the Nest as a top quilt and the SS underneath...will that save weight over your Nest/bag setup?

Good luck on your thru. I'm buring with jealousy! Only ~14 years left for me...

Awesome - I don't like using pads, either. That would be worth the extra 4 oz to me.

Some things to consider:
- Even though you were comfortable to freezing w/ only the SS, you weren't sleeping. When your metabolism slows, the SS's effective temp will increase. Still, you're one of about three people I've heard say the SS is comfortable below about 50 F...good on ya! Did it come with just the pad, or with the extra kidney pads too?
- Be careful putting the ocf pad inside the snakeskins. I think bending the skins to pack it might tear the pad.
- During the warmer months, you can use the Nest as a top quilt and the SS underneath...will that save weight over your Nest/bag setup?

Good luck on your thru. I'm buring with jealousy! Only ~14 years left for me... Just jeff, i think i was not sleeping because when i started this experment it was only 7 pm and wanted to watch temp drop to see how it was progressing at different ranges. i think that would be an excellent idea to use nest and ss in warmer months. the pad in skins did'nt feel to tight, i bent them in like 12 inch sections and wrapped the spectra cords around. but i did think about asking my mother to sew me some python size skins out of my stock hh tarp and use the #4 skins for my 8x10 equinox tarp and the python size for hammock,under cover and ocf.

Great report! Good to know the nest/underpad thing works!

About the skins, why not just remove the underpad and stuff the whole thing in a stuff sack? :D

hangman, et al,

Interesting approach.... Thanks for testing and reporting on it.
Come to think of it, this approach is not unlike a vapor barrier approach.... That suggests yet another option on this gear for really cold weather.... the HH under pad could also be placed outside of the silnyl cover and under the Nest... This would protect it from body moisture inside the HHSS.

Of course like all vapor barrier approaches you'll need to deal with the moisture issues of the vapor barrier inside the hammock and with your top bag/quilt.

Let the testing begin.... Remember to have a safe bail out plan.

Pan